Tasmanian farmers welcomed the State Government’s promise to release an extra 3,300 megalitres of irrigation water from Lake Crescent, wrote Alison Ribbon in The Mercury (9/10/2007).

Grateful for what they can get: Irrigator Tom Edgell, one of a group who met Primary Industries and Water Minister, David Llewellyn, in Hobart, expressed his gratitude for the move. “It’s not as much as we hoped but were grateful for any water we can get,” he said. “It doesn’t help in the longer term but it’s water for the summer.” Llewellyn said he had sought an update on farming in the Clyde Valley given the extreme and persistent drought conditions. “I have given consideration to the difficulties faced by Clyde Valley irrigators and the wider Bothwell community due to the severity of the impact of the drought on farm businesses.” he said.